Sperm nuclear DNA fragmentation in adolescents with varicocele

Objective: To verify if sperm from adolescents with varicocele have an increased rate of DNA fragmentation when compared with adolescents without varicocele. Design: Controlled prospective study. Setting: Patients in an academic research environment. Patient(s): Adolescent patients with a clinical diagnosed bilateral varicocele, grades II and III, and adolescent patients without a varicocele. Intervention(S): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Rate of sperm DNA fragmentation as assessed by the Comet assay, graded as class I (no DNA fragmentation), II (little DNA fragmentation), III (meaningful DNA fragmentation), or IV (high DNA fragmentation). Result(s): A higher percentage of cells with no DNA fragmentation (class I) was found in the nonvaricocele group (47.62 +/- 7.69) when compared with the varicocele group (27.52 +/- 10.73). A higher percentage of sperm with class III and class IV DNA fragmentation was found in the varicocele group (20.43 +/- 8.97, and 19.57 +/- 10.68) when compared with the nonvaricocele group (11.38 +/- 5.55, and 5.71 +/- 2.35). Conclusion(s): Although standard semen analysis showed no difference between the groups, adolescents with varicocele have an increase in sperm nuclear DNA fragmentation. Thus DNA fragmentation evaluation, could be important in deciding treatment options for adolescent patients.